Not Exactly A Thirst Quencher
by comealongpond
Summary: Eugene takes Rapunzel to a bar.


**This is my first Tangled fic _ever_! Pretty exciting, eh? Yes. And just so you know before hand, this story is intended to take place during the movie, on the second day Rapunzel and Eugene are together, the afternoon right before they go the lights. I hope you enjoy.**

"Ooh, where are we now?" Rapunzel asked, looking wide-eyed into the building Eugene had just opened. They had been exploring the city all day and had already seen such wonderful things. She was in the best mood ever, eager to see as much as she possibly could before she had to return back to her tower, which was something she didn't really like to think about. Her smile, however, fell when she realized what kind of place they were in. "A bar?" she asked, her mouth hanging open in shock.

"Chill out, Blondie, I just thought we would relax a bit before heading out again." Eugene stepped in front of her, looking proudly at the bar. He turned then, seeing her expression, and his face fell a little too.

"You brought me into a _bar_?" she demanded.

He smiled brilliantly and leaned down closer to her ear. "I don't see what the big deal is," he said, and walked off towards the counter. Rapunzel was about to open her mouth to say something else when she realized she had no choice but to follow him. She did so grudgingly, with her arms crossed over her chest.

Eugene had already ordered something from the bartender when she joined him. "Don't worry, I didn't get you one," he said with a look that said he wanted her to shut up.

She scoffed lightly, looking around the place. It didn't seem to be nearly as intimidating as the Snuggly Duckling. In fact, the people in here looked…normal. They weren't scary at all. "I don't remember this being part of the plan," she muttered, glaring at him.

"Well, I don't remember _any of this_ being part of the plan, so…" He shrugged, taking his drink and leading them off to a table.

This was true. He hadn't needed to give her a tour of the kingdom today, but he did anyway. She supposed it was time he got to do something he wanted to. Not that she approved of this. It wasn't that she had a problem with Eugene drinking, she really didn't care about that, she just thought it wasn't an appropriate place to be.

"I feel weird in here," she said suddenly, noticing that she was one of the few females in the pup, and definitely the youngest.

"I won't let anything happen to you," he said offhand, sipping his drink, some sort of amber colored liquid in a dusty class.

Somehow she had a feeling he was telling the truth.

"Aren't you thirsty?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "You know they have water."

"I'll pass, thank you," Rapunzel said. There were other places to get water. They would probably find someplace to eat soon anyway.

Eugene smirked suddenly. "You can have a sip of my drink, if you want," he said, pushing his glass forward a little and giving her an enticing look.

Rapunzel declined again. "Nope." She really didn't have any desire to drink alcohol. The only thing she knew about it came from books, of course, but from what she understood, there wasn't much benefit from it.

"Come on." He smiled even wider.

Rapunzel didn't know if Eugene was trying to get her drunk or if he just wanted her to have fun. She had been on a roll of trying new things, after all. "Fine," she gave in. Glancing around as if to make sure no one was looking, she quickly pulled the glass towards her. Maybe she was feeling particularly daring, or maybe Eugene was on to something about that teenage rebellion thing. Either way…

She lifted the glass to her lips gingerly, taking a tiny sip. Less than a second later she spit it all over the front of the table, gagging. "Never – drinking – alcohol – again," she managed through coughs, sliding the glass back over to him, her throat still burning.

"I doubt that's true," Eugene said, laughing softly at her reaction to the drink. What did he mean by that? Rapunzel raised an eyebrow at him, but went back to trying to wipe off the table.

"Bet you wish you had that water now," he said, going back to his drink. She looked up at him with mild dislike, even though it was her fault she did it at all. How did he drink that stuff?

"As a matter of fact, I do," she said, straightening up a bit and looking around. There were one or two people staring at them by now, but maybe her hair had something to do with that, maybe they hadn't seen…

He drained the last of his glass in one swallow. "Come on, then," he said. He held out his hand and led her back to the bar. She gave a bit of a nervous smile, her eyes moving from him to the empty cup. "Look, if you're worried I'll be drunk when the lanterns come up, don't be," he said, then laughed. "I'm hardly even buzzed…"

Well, she supposed that was something. She laughed softly, smiling at him. "So, when I'm done with the water, can we get out of here?"

"'Course," he answered. "After all…" He turned to her and shrugged. "This is your day."


End file.
